THE GAP
Stop thinking. Stop reading this for a second and stop thinking.
It’s not easy, is it? And why would it be? After all, it’s your brain’s job to think. But with practice, it can be trained to be quiet.
And why would I ever want my brain to be quiet? A few reasons:
- Increased ability to experience peace
- Reduced anxiety
- Increased confidence
- Better health
- More efficient access to memory, ideas, creativity
- Increased physical coordination
- Increased problem solving ability
- Increased levels of patience
- Increased levels of compassion
- Increased ability to manifest more of what you want with less effort
- Increased productivity
- Increased levels of energy
- Relaxation
- Heightened awareness to thoughts and emotions
- Less defensiveness
- Less anger
- Increased focus
- Present Moment Alertness
- Improved job performance
- Improved athletic performance
Imagine that your brain has two settings, ON and OFF. We’re quite familiar with the ON. It’s how we spend the vast majority of our existence. And thank God for the ON, for if we didn’t have the ability to think, we’d be totally dysfunctional. But there’s a whole other realm to be explored. The OFF. Also referred to as the discontinuity, or The Gap, it’s a magical state where we transcend thought and enter the world of infinite possibilities. The realm of pure potentiality.
In this state of stillness and spaciousness we remember that we are inextricably connected to all that is. We experience infinite peace. Fear is a product of thinking. Specifically, thinking about what could go wrong. In the absence of thought, there can be no fear. And in the absence of fear, there is only peace, compassion, love, and lightness of being.
Practicing creating stillness doesn’t actually result in stillness in all areas of the brain. In fact, it activates one part of the brain (the neocortex, or frontal lobe), but it quiets another part (the thalamus). The result is called coherence. And the benefits of coherence, as you see in the list above, are numerous. This practice of getting in the “OFF’, so to speak, results in mastery in all forms.
And the practice is so simple.
How do you get in the Gap?
Give yourself twenty minutes to do this practice. Sit quietly somewhere you will not be interrupted or distracted. You will do this practice silently in your mind with your eyes closed.
1. Begin the practice by taking a couple deep breaths and then ask yourself and answer the following 3 questions:
- Who am I?
- What do I want?
- What is my Life Purpose?
Reflecting upon these three questions will serve to remind you of who you are and want to be, what you desire for your life and for others’, and of your ultimate mission – that which is more important to you than anything else, something that you will be proud to say you honored consistently as you grow older. This life purpose will involve in some way, making a contribution to the world.
2. Once you have reflected upon those questions and answered them, it’s time to begin the actual gap meditation.
Simply sit comfortably with your eyes closed and begin to quiet the mind. Become an observer of the mind. Observe the thoughts that arise and remember that you are not those thoughts.
3. As you notice the thoughts that your mind is generating, simply and gently release them as if to release the pressure of holding onto a small helium filled balloon. And simply continue to repeat that practice for the duration of the meditation. It’s simply a practice of noticing and releasing the thoughts that our minds create. It’s a practice of conditioning the mind into a higher functioning state of coherence. Ultimately, you will experience gaps in thinking, spaces of thoughtlessness. That happens spontaneously as a result of the practice. Notice those gaps and over time experience what it is like to permit yourself to stay in those gaps longer and longer before exiting it by generating the next thought.
ENJOY!
You’ll notice many things as you practice the meditation, but one thing to pay particular attention to is the lightness that you feel when you release an unpleasant thought. You will invariably get caught up in some disturbing or anxiety provoking thought. Then you’ll remember that you don’t need it. You’ll release it. And the subsequent experience will be that you return to peace and lightness. This peace or lightness of being is your natural state. It never disappears. You are eternally enveloped within it. You can only render yourself incapable of experiencing it with negative thinking. As you practice The Gap, you’ll be strengthening your ability to make that same shift throughout your day. The shift from unnecessary suffering back to peace. And as a result, you’ll feel better, and activate mastery in all you do.
8 Comments
Love it…. Thanks for another great blog and for your encouragement to start my own…
I can’t wait to read it, Jessica!
Chris…I often find it difficult to express my feelings verbally. However, upon reading chapter 12 of your book (4th paragraph), you detailed how you once bought an easel and charcol and expressed yourself through the medium of art. This passage inspired me to purchase an easel of my own. Let me tell you… chicks dig cheesy, nonsensical artwork. If this keeps up, I’ll be checking into rehab w/ Tiger! Aww Snap! Thanks for helping me put on my “game face”.
Thank you for this meditation and information. I know this is what I needed to hear right now. Yes, I will do this. Powerful but so simple.
Ann
You’re so welcome, Ann! And thanks for your note.
Chris
I love this video and I am going to start this. It seems hard to do.
1. Begin the practice by taking a couple deep breaths and then ask yourself and answer the following 3 questions:
* Who am I?
* What do I want?
* What is my Life Purpose?
And, very important – write them down – as we do in Lifpelan!
I love the GAP Chris. I use it floating around my endless pool. Thanks